Dealing With Consequences

Chapter 6

"Will you hold still sir," a medic commanded. "I am trying to examine your eye."

T'ranthiom dodged the woman again and tried to stand from the examining table he was perched on. The medic shoved him back down, hand perched clumsily on his chest. He growled at her and dodged another attempt at his face.

"Woman, it is fine. I require no services from a witch doctor. Take your voodoo away from me."

The medic scoffed, hands on her hips. As she opened her mouth to give T'ranthiom a lecture, Tony walked in dangling his new tags and laughed at the situation.

"Seriously Tristan, I would kill to have Vee examine me," he laughed as he twirled the tags in his hand.  Vee giggled and threw her hand out at him.  T'ranthiom studied the situation carefully. He was unfamiliar with this form of communication.

"Hurry up, you're assigned to head back into the field shortly. I don't envy you. You are going in deep." He threw the tags to T'ranthiom who caught them effortlessly.

"I need to speak to Amara," he commanded. Tony shrugged his shoulders and sat down on a small stool to the side.

"Sorry Tri, haven't seen her since we got back. I've been busy with the wife and kid, you know. If she knows what is good for her, she is resting."

 The medic took advantage of the distraction and finally whipped the rags off his head and gasped. Her hands went to cover her mouth and she stepped away from T'ranthiom as if he was a radioactive spider. T'ranthiom glared at her.

"What's with the markings Tri," Tony stated with amusement. "Are you a Sympathizer?"

The medic quickly recovered and cleaned him up. As she looked over his eye, she tried hard not to touch him. It was as if he had the plague. T'ranthiom smirked at her reaction. He liked this weak side to humans. All he ever saw was the brave overconfident soldiers on the front lines.  

"Hey, he is still a soldier. Give him his check up so he can head back out," Tony barked. Vee jumped and rushed through the rest.

"Your eye seems fine, why does it say it was damaged," Vee commented, "Who was your medic?"

"Amara! She promised me she would stop doing that. Doesn't she know that can kill her?! I swear next time I see that girl," Tony grumbled before turning to leave. "Let's go Tristan. I have orders to pack you up and ship you out." T'ranthiom jumped from the table and followed after him.  

Vee sighed in relief as the doors closed behind them. She fell to the floor holding her chest. Another medic ran over.

"I tell you, I am switching to civilian care. I can't take all the horrors of the war," Vee whined dramatically. "Sympathizers! To the grave, the lot of em." The other medic patted her back sympathetically.

  

                Upon reaching the vessel, Tony held out his hand to T'ranthiom and wished him the best before turning and heading back inside. T'ranthiom glanced around before going onto the ship. He remembered her plan. He was to break away in "enemy territory" as soon as possible and never look back. Easily done, he thought. He knew the land like the back of his hand.

                "Why didn't she come back like she said she would," he said as he sat down next to a shaking soldier.

                "Girl troubles, huh, I hear you," replied someone from the next aisle. "My lady says it breaks her heart to see me off each time, but the money is too good to pass on and we put in for a baby a bit ago. She thinks our number might be coming in, you know. I can't wait to have a baby of our own. Those incubators take too long. They need to speed up the time or something. It is way too long to wait." The soldier ran his fingers through his hair before putting back on the helmet. "I'm Sony White. Don't ask. Parents were into those ancient civilization names. Apparently people of the past worshipped Sony would stare at it for hours at a time. Anyway most people call me Scar."

                He held out his hand and T'ranthiom nodded at him. Scar retracted his hand with an eyebrow raised. He slumped back into his seat as the announcer came on tipping his helmet forward.

                The hovercraft smoothly took off and away. They went on, what was explained, as a mission for territory. The mountain they described as the main source of ore for the Naih. T'ranthiom kept from laughing at the stupidity of the humans. It was an outpost that mined the metal used to link their armor. They could live without it. They simply would use another source. It would be no lose to the Naih people.

                He listened carefully as the soldier in charge explained the exploding device and its' capabilities. This knowledge will be usefully in the future. Eventually, the craft fell silent. The shaking soldier stood up rashly and scooted past him knocking down the screen Amara had used earlier. He glanced down at it with mild interest. Upon pushing a button a database popped up with vast knowledge of human history.

                T'ranthiom pushed another button as a woman started screaming of love in weird notes and a category titled Naih popped up. He smirked as he willingly entered it. Inside he found classifications of the various species, which were wrong, the internal breakdown of a few they had dissected, and some information on assumed customs and primitive life styles. He laughed as they described his people as primitive. The humans had no idea what they were invading and it made T'ranthiom pity them more.  

                As the soldiers set up camp a few leagues from the base of the mountain, T'ranthiom caught sight of a small hover craft heading deeper in. The soldiers stood together and took off their helmets in a salute.

                "Negotiators," the shaking soldier explained, "Trying to bring peace to this war. Poor chaps are as good as dead." T'ranthiom grunted in agreement. The Loggerheads loved to consume the Hopefuls.

                T'ranthiom helped the soldiers set up their camp taking note of their defenses and played with paper numbers for credits. The game was pointless but caused shaking soldier to remain steady. Interesting distraction he thought. The Naih usually have Loggerheads fight to the death.   

As night fell, T'ranthiom made his escape and headed back into familiar territory. As he launched himself over a steep peak of the mountain, he let out a roar for the attention of his people below. His people prepared his transportation back to main base and he took off with speed.